Chapter 53: Let the Bat Guard Against the Bat
For soundproofing, Oscorp's conference rooms used walls with layered concrete, drywall, and acoustic insulation.
Their durability might not match pure concrete walls, but still couldn't be easily destroyed by ordinary people or even ordinary artillery shells.
Yet now, under Batman's single punch, Kingpin's massive body literally smashed through the wall, passed through another conference room, then crashed through a second concrete wall—collapsing most of it—before stopping.
The massive impact shattered the conference room windows. Glass shards clattered everywhere across the floor.
Silver Sable stood somewhat dumbstruck, dropping the chair she'd been holding.
She remembered the first time seeing Batman in the sublevel two human experimentation lab. Back then he wore ordinary black night clothes, not the armor-covered suit now.
That Batman went 1v50, knocking down all her security personnel one by one. Yet Silver Sable still had confidence to spar with Batman then.
But now, watching the sent-flying Kingpin, Silver Sable truly understood how vast the power gap between her and Batman was.
She once again overturned her previous view:
'This guy is absolutely not human. The deliberately exposed chin is just to mislead people.'
'What creature is hidden beneath that suit? Vampire? Werewolf? Or the legendary resurrected Egyptian pharaoh?'
Silver Sable watched Batman's stable body—besides floor tiles cracking inch by inch beneath his feet from recoil force, completely unaffected—her mind flashing through a string of legendary stories.
'According to Scorpion Mac's and driver Walker's descriptions of Kingpin, his seemingly obese body is actually almost entirely muscle, with physical strength far exceeding normal human limits.'
'Using half of Peter's strength is sufficient to handle Kingpin.'
Knowing Kingpin's peculiarities beforehand, Batman didn't test first. Instead, he controlled his strength to send Kingpin flying with one strike.
He needed to subdue his opponent quickly, avoiding their battle destroying too much of Oscorp's walls—most importantly, avoiding breaking too many load-bearing columns.
Batman's foot stamped the ground, chasing Kingpin's flying direction.
From Silver Sable and Matt's angle, they couldn't see the following battle clearly. But they could hear repeated cracking sounds.
"That's..." Silver Sable listened to sounds like firecrackers going off continuously, vaguely guessing.
"He's crushing Kingpin's bones," Matt said.
Minutes later, Batman dragged Kingpin's heavy body back to the boardroom, looking at Matt.
"He's yours."
Batman turned, jumping from the shattered glass window where he'd exchanged punches with Kingpin.
When Silver Sable ran to the window, Batman's figure had already vanished outside.
Having lost all resistance capability, Kingpin lay on the ground. Matt didn't directly dispose of him but called the police, having Manhattan precinct take Kingpin away.
This former controller of all Hell's Kitchen gang forces, who'd hoped to become Manhattan's—even New York's—underground emperor, fell just like that.
Even after being held in the precinct's detention cell, Kingpin remained silent throughout, neither breaking down shouting nor begging pitifully.
His face regained its former gentle appearance, as if the person with half his bones shattered wasn't him.
Matt and Silver Sable followed Manhattan precinct personnel to the station, watching Kingpin locked in the holding cell before preparing to leave.
"You seem to think of yourselves as heroes." Only when Matt was about to leave did Kingpin slowly speak. "You think prison can hold me."
Matt stopped his departing steps, his blind eyes "looking" toward Kingpin.
"The real cage is the chaos outside. Those cockroach-like small-timers tearing at each other over a bag of drugs—that's the disorder."
"At most three months and I'll be back under the sun. Only I can bring order to the chaotic underground forces."
Kingpin lay slumped on the cell's cot, yet his tone sounded as if it weren't a cot but a throne.
"Because when you see a broken bridge, and you're the only one with the strength and blueprints to repair it, you bear responsibility to complete it."
"New York needs an underground emperor."
Matt nodded, then walked to the holding cell opposite Kingpin's. With the officers' permission, he pulled open the door blocking the view, leaving only iron bars.
Matt pointed at the two people held inside.
"You're not wrong. But they've already confessed all your crimes. Drugs, firearms, prostitution, robbery... As a lawyer, I cannot state what punishment you'll receive, but you should know what you're facing."
Kingpin's gaze passed through the bars. Seeing the faces of those held in the opposite cell, his heart sank.
Those two were Scorpion Mac and driver Walker—who'd vanished last night, captured by Batman.
Following normal legal procedures, what awaited Kingpin was probably life imprisonment.
With Walker and Mac—Kingpin's two formerly most trusted subordinates—Matt chose to hide Ivan and his daughter Maddie, eliminating any need for them to testify in court.
'Don't know what methods Batman used to make Walker confess everything... His methods might be more terrifying than I imagined. Hope he didn't discover I'm Daredevil.'
Matt silently shook his head internally, ignoring Kingpin as he walked toward the station exit.
Not until Silver Sable and Matt each departed—preparing for court to completely freeze Kingpin's controlled shares and prosecute his various gang activities—did Batman leap down from a distant high-rise.
"This lawyer Matt Murdock is the Daredevil I've encountered."
He now wore a flannel shirt, having resumed Peter's identity, legitimately visiting to see Dr. Octavius.
While fighting Kingpin at Oscorp, Matt had listened to Batman's heartbeat. Simultaneously, Batman had used Peter's senses to detect Matt's heartbeat and breathing.
Walker's confession mentioned injuring Daredevil's thigh. This Matt had a faint medicinal smell on his leg.
Same steady heartbeat. Same blindness. Same thigh injury.
In Batman's eyes, Matt had practically written "I'm Daredevil" on his face. Batman didn't need much effort to lock down his identity.
However, current Daredevil wasn't an enemy. Batman wouldn't deliberately expose his identity. He had more important matters now.
Norman Osborn's whereabouts were unknown. Dr. Octavius urgently needed surgery to remove his tentacles, restoring his scientist identity.
Moreover, this morning when showing his face at Peter's apartment, landlord's daughter Ursula had conveyed a message to Batman.
Tony Stark lacked Batman's contact information. He'd directly contacted Empire State University, who contacted Aunt May, who finally called Peter's apartment.
The phone message conveyed: have Peter provide some technical services for that organization they'd mentioned before.
Put bluntly: have Batman set up firewalls for SHIELD to prevent Batman from infiltrating them again.